One of young girls in crash still in critical condition

One of young girls in crash still in critical condition

All but one of the four Northwood girls injured Tuesday in a crash near Hanlontown, Iowa, have been released from the hospital to their families.

Eleven-year-old Hailey Schaefer was released Thursday from Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Maeghan Petznick and Jaela Parks, both 10, were released earlier in the week.

The girl remaining under medical care is Destiny Bruce, 10. According to a spokeswoman with St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, she remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon.

The girls had been taken to the hospitals Tuesday morning after the van they were riding in was broadsided by a semi at the intersection of Worth County Road S28 and Iowa Highway 9. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the 22-year-old driver of their van ran a stop sign. The group was headed on a canoeing trip to Clear Lake as part of a Worth County Conservation Board program.

Two other girls riding in the crash, Cassidy Stehn, 9, of Northwood, and Hana Riedinger, 12, of Kensett, Iowa, died in the crash. Their funerals are Saturday and Sunday.

A CaringBridge website set up for Destiny said the 10-year-old has several broken bones, a bruised lung, a slit in her kidney and bleeding in her brain.

She was removed from a ventilator Thursday and is now breathing on her own again.